


Under The Radar

by UntidyCeiling



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Angry and Scared Donnie, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Injury, Bonding, Brotherly Fluff, Doctor Donatello (TMNT), Donnie - Freeform, Family, Gen, Hurt Michelangelo (TMNT), Leo - Freeform, Protective Big Brother, Raph - Freeform, Tryin' to be chill about the whole thing Mikey, mikey - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:21:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29058912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UntidyCeiling/pseuds/UntidyCeiling
Summary: Mikey always, always told Donnie if he got hurt. If it was a paper cut, the youngest would come sprinting to Don with tears spilling down his cheeks and begging his immediate brother to 'make it stop hurting'. Donatello didn't have a problem with Mikey hiding injuries. He never had to reprimand his little brother for not showing him his battle wounds because, well, Mikey never went off rogue like the two eldest did. And to be quite honest, it was refreshing to the intellectually inclined turtle to not have to worry about his baby brother.But it was because he wasn't worried about the youngest, Mikey was able to fly under the radar without the purple-banded brother's consent.Bro fluff! Rated T for mention of blood, but that's all.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 71





	Under The Radar

Under the Radar

Donatello hated it when his brothers hid their injuries from him. It was mostly Raphael or Leonardo who thought they could handle their battle wounds on their own without doctor Donnie inspecting them. But this tactic just ended up agitating their injuries further and causing them to become more infected, which was a lot worse than letting the genius turtle patch them up in the first place.

Whenever Raph or Leo got injuries that gave them the incentive to hide their wounds, it was on nights where they snuck out of the Lair to go rogue and haul and kick major butt. Most of the time, Donnie would still be cooped up in his Lab, working on small gadgets when the rogue turtle returned home. Sometimes he'd catch them trying to sneak through the Lair —doing their best to be undetected while supporting a huge gash— and force them to his Laboratory despite all their claims to be 'fine' and 'it's really not that bad' to clean and fix their wounds.

And then —much to the irritation of the family doctor— there were times when Donnie _didn't_ catch them. And when the morning came, their injuries were puffy and irritated and completely swollen which made it harder to patch up. Donnie would scold and demand if they _even_ have so much as a scratch on their body, they better come and find him because honestly, Donnie was never going to sleep if he didn't have the secure knowledge of knowing his family was in one piece. And after a few heated arguments that may or may not have been loud enough to alert the whole city of their presence, Donnie finally won the promise of both older brothers, vowing they'll come directly to him if they happen to sustain an injury in their solo battles. For the most part, they kept to their vows, giving Don the peace he very much needed to know that his family was safe.

Michelangelo was a different story. Mikey always, _always_ told Donnie if he got hurt. If it was a paper cut, the youngest would come sprinting to Don with tears spilling down his cheeks and begging his immediate brother to 'make it stop hurting'. Donatello didn't have a problem with Mikey hiding injuries. He never had to reprimand his little brother for not showing him his battle wounds because, well, Mikey never went off rogue like the two eldest did. And to be quite honest, it was refreshing to the intellectually inclined turtle to not have to worry about his baby brother.

But it was _because_ he wasn't worried about the youngest, Mikey was able to fly under the radar without the purple-banded brother's consent.

The Lair was freezing, reaching fifty-four degrees as Donnie worked to fix up the small heater—some faulty wires that just needed a quick reattachment, almost got it, and there— to heat up the frigid air that claimed their small home. Over in the tv pit sat a shivering Leo who was curled up in a blanket, and next to him, a teeth-chattering Raphael who refused to snatch a blanket, claiming that he 'didn't need one'.

"Is that thang workin' yet? It's takin' you forever!"

"Yes. I just got it working again. Give it a moment to start heating up the Lair." Donnie grumbled as he walked over to where his two brothers sat and plumped down on the make-shift couch and snagged a spare blanket.

"I'm not sure when Mikey's going to get back from hanging out with Casey, so we better start the show now before it gets too late."

"If he comes back and throws a fit that we started it without him, I'm blamin' you." Raph hmphed as he grabbed the remote and punched in a few buttons before settling back to watch the movie that illuminated the tv pit.

It was nearly an hour later when Donnie heard the turnstiles shift, announcing the youngest's return. He didn't bother to look up from his laptop that was balancing expertly on his leg as he gave half of his attention to the show's extremely boring plotline.

"H-hi, bros, sorry I'm so late!" Came Mikey's voice as his feet echoed around the Lair, "I'm gonna grab a quick snack."

"Hurry back," Leo responded, not bothering to look up either as his eyes remained glued to the screen. But he didn't 'hurry back'. In fact, Mikey didn't come back at all, and when the show had ended, enabling them to finally tear their eyes away from the tv, they forgot all about their missing brother.

"Dang, that was intense. Hey, Donnie. Did you even watch it, at all?"

"Yes, I did. But I thought it was lame."

"Probably 'cause the only thang that interests Mr. Genius turtle over here is documentaries and science junk." Raph shot and Donnie threw a disapproving look his brother's way.

"The plotline sucked, the props and the animation didn't look remotely realistic, there was no accuracy to the film whatsoever, it had far too many flaws, and it was completely and utterly false. You can't obtain a superpower from a meteorite. Even though it came from outer space, there's no scientific proof or evidence behind this theory!"

"You're suckin' all the fun out of the movie."

"Well, I'm off to bed. You two can squabble all you want over that movie when I'm not here. G'night." Leo said as he stood up and stretched before making his way to his room.

"You just like it because of all the explosions," Donnie stated matter-of-factly as he glared at his older brother. Raph rolled his eyes before standing up and folding his arms and declaring "Well, you're lame." and ignored the younger turtle when he mumbled something like "you're lame" under his breath as Raphael started the trek to his room.

Everything was quiet once the door to Raph's room clicked shut, and Donnie found himself scrolling through the website displaying chemical reactions before sighing and closing his laptop.

He had two options: go and get some shut-eye in his bed for once and possibly get a decent seven hours of sleep before training in the morning, or the far better option in his opinion, use the peace and quiet the night provided to get some much-needed work done in his lab. He knew his brothers would disapprove of the latter option, but Don didn't care much what they thought, well, to an extent. It made the perfect recipe to get his thoughts out and make the most progress when night had consumed their small home and his brothers had disappeared to sleep in their rooms. So, with his mind set and his feet in motion, Donatello made his way to his lab, ready to hone down on his many projects that were eagerly waiting for his attention.

Unfortunately, the smartest turtle only made it halfway into his lab when he noticed something didn't look quite right. It took him a moment or two to access what was off before pinpointing exactly what it was, and when he did, a frown pulled his lips down.

He had a tool chest he usually kept next to his desk while he worked so he could conveniently reach over and snag whatever he needed for his current project. No one was supposed to touch it. No one except for the intellectual genius himself. Donnie had everything organized to a Tee and knew exactly where every tool laid according to memory so he didn't have to tear his eyes away from his work. But to his horror, all the drawers were pulled out and the contents were dumped all over the floor near his desk.

Donatello rushed to his desk, staring at the scattered tools with disbelieving eyes. He gave each of his brothers' specific orders to not touch his stuff. He explicitly explained that it was important to leave everything as it was because everything had a place and a purpose, and if they so much as laid a finger on any of his stuff, they could cause major setbacks in his progress that could leave him working overnight and getting little to no sleep. He was sure his brothers had had enough experience of dealing with a sleep-deprived Donnie to understand that this order was a serious one and shouldn't be trifled with. He even half-hoped Michelangelo understood the importance of this order. But if anyone had the indecency to ruin his progress, it was the turtle in orange. And when Don got a hold of the younger turtle, Mikey was going to understand _beyond_ the concept of understanding how _important_ it was to _not_ touch Donnie's stuff. So with a twist of his body, the purple-banded brother stormed towards the youngest's room with purpose, ready to relieve some of his pent up frustration on his little, no-good brother.

' _This is probably why Mikey never came back to the pit to watch that lame movie._ ' Donnie thought dully. He did have a fleeting inquiry of how Mikey could have _possibly_ snuck past three ninjas without any of them noticing him, but he waved that question away with annoyance. Mikey was a ninja too. He could be quiet if he wanted or felt like his life was in peril danger, which it might have been if Donnie knew what havoc the youngest was making in his precious lab.

Once to Mikey's room, Donnie threw open the door —not bothering to knock— and, blinked once, twice, staring at the empty dark room that contained no younger brother. ' _Where is he…?'_ Donatello glanced around slowly before a frown formed on his face. ' _Well, that explains why no one saw him sneak into his room… But then, where could he possibly be?'_ Then Donnie's eyesight caught sight of the gentle light that trickled into the hallway from the kitchen and breathed out a sigh. ' _Of course…'_

Don marched towards the kitchen feeling his anger die down and settle into something like irritation and annoyance. But as he made his way into the kitchen, all feelings were thrust out of a window before contorting into an ugly monster of fear.

"Mikey?" Donnie breathed, eyes examining the state his brother was in. Mikey jumped at the sound of his brother's voice then looked up from where he sat cross-legged on the island that sad in the middle of the kitchen, holding a crimson-colored rag that was stained heavily with blood.

The two brothers stared at each other, each exhibiting a look of fear etched into their features before Mikey croaked out, "s-sup, D…" after a second of too much silence. And Donnie didn't fail to notice when Michelangelo made a quick and pointless attempt to hide the bloodied rag behind his carapace.

"You're bleeding?" Donnie asked, but it was more of a statement than a question. And as the older brother's eyes traveled over the younger, his gaze fixed upon Mikey's arm, the one he was trying but failing miserably to hide behind his shell. It oozed with blood that was seeping heavily from a gash that looked to be about two inches long from where Don stood; brown eyes almost red in the kitchen light.

He was angry again, but this time it was for a whole different reason, and somehow, it was stronger than a few minutes before when he saw his beloved tools sprawled on the ground. This time, he wanted to shake Mikey so hard his teeth clattered against each other, and yell at him. Yell at the youngest for NOT coming to him sooner!

"How long have you been bleeding?" Donatello barked as he took a step forward, only half noticing Mikey back up further on the small island with fear vibrating in his baby blue eyes.

"Uh… uh…"

"How long have you been bleeding?" This time he was towering over the youngest as he growled under his breath. Then with swift movements, he plucked the rag out of the blue-eyed turtle's hand to study the cloth. It _was_ indeed heavy with thick liquid and held the horrible pungent smell of copper.

"Answer me, Michelangelo!"

The younger turtle physically flinched, like Donnie laid a hand on him as he stared at the older turtle with glistening eyes.

"I… I got it when I was skateboarding…!" Mikey looked away and didn't quite meet Donnie's eyes, and at that moment, Don knew he was lying.

"Don't lie to me, or so help me Mikey, I will get Leo and Raph and we will force you to tell the truth!"

Donatello's little brother shrunk, making himself as small as possible while Donnie viewed the injury closer to see how deep the cut was before confirming it wasn't too deep. Then spinning on his heels, he marched to the sink to rinse out the rag before bending down to a drawer and collected more. Then he was on top of Michelangelo again, growling intensely and pressing the rag to his wound. It didn't seem to be bleeding that heavily anymore, but the blood still quickly turned the cloth to a faint, grossly red color within seconds, which told the genius turtle that it would most likely need stitches; probably four or five by the looks of it. And up close and able to examine the injury, Don noticed it looked like a sword had snagged the youngest's skin by the way the cut was so precise, straight, and narrow.

"We're going to go to my lab, and once we're there, you better start talking." Donnie hissed. It was a command but Mikey didn't take it as such when he replied, "yeaaah, I think I'm good, bro…"

He started to slide off the island, but Donatello placed a firm and unmoving hand on his plastron, looking him straight in the eyes with a look that made Mikey hesitate. "We are _going_ to my lab. And you _will_ start talking. And if you _don't_ comply, there _will_ be consequences."

When Mikey doesn't get his way, the first thing he'll do it brush it off, _then_ if that doesn't work, he'll turn on the puppy-dog eyes, which he did; going full out and plastering on the saddest baby blues and finishing it with a quivering lip that made it _almost_ impossible to not give in to. Almost. But Donatello wasn't having it. He scooped up his little brother bridal-style and carried him out of the kitchen towards his laboratory.

When the sad puppy-dog eyes don't work, then without fail, Mikey's brothers could expect the waterworks. And sure enough, they came. Tears bubbled up behind his orange-colored mask before waterfalling down his cheeks as he shook with sobbing breaths.

He cried and then he whimpered before crying some more, putting on a show professional actors would be jealous of, but Donnie knew it was all an act. One he could do with ease, almost like it was second nature to him. And Don really wished that the three oldests' didn't let Mikey boss them around like this and use this skill of his to its maximin potential.

"Mikey, that's enough…" Donnie said softly, and somehow, his anger was gone just like that, replaced with something close to concern as he held his sobbing baby brother in his arms. Mikey was excellent at his job, the purple-banded brother would give him that.

Once they got to a small cot Don reserved just for his injured family and friends, he placed Mikey on top and stared into the tear-stained face, deciding what to make out of his whimpering sibling. But first things first. Donatello went on a small scavenger hunt for a needle and thread as well as some antiseptic to clean out the wound and keep it from getting infected before finding some gauze to wrap up the injury once he was done stitching it together. And once he collected everything he needed, he got to work, cleaning and disinfecting and trying to calm the _still_ crying Michelangelo down. If the intellectually inclined turtle didn't get Mikey to stop crying soon, the youngest would eventually be swept away with exhaustion and fall asleep before telling the third oldest how he happened to obtain a three-inch slice in his arm.

"Mikey, I need you to listen to me. I need you to settle down, okay? I just want to know what happened. I'm not angry if that's what you're scared about." Donnie said in a soft, soothing voice, and that seemed to do the trick. Mikey eventually stopped shaking and crying and slowly tilted his puffy sad eyes up to Donnie before he took a quivering breath and hiccupping the word, "promise?"

Donatello suppressed a laugh because, honestly, this kid knew exactly how to manipulate his brothers into getting the results he desired. Michelangelo must have sensed a storm coming a mile away and knew just how to avoid the crisis. Well done, little brother.

"I promise." Donnie declared, holding his brother's gaze, and decided to seize the opportunity to stitch up the gash in the youngest's arm before Mikey could refuse and make it even harder for the family doctor to work. So with gentle fingers, Don stuck the needle into the sensitive area and started to sew the skin together, trying not to be too forceful with his words when telling Mikey to "hold still".

"Ow! It hurts!"

"Yeah, that's what happens when you get sliced open. But just sit still so I don't mess up."

He didn't sit still though, flinching and wincing and curling away and making it so much harder than it needed to be. And when Donnie was finally done, he snipped the threat and put his supplies away before bandaging up the wound with gauze. As he raveled the fabric around the youngest's arm, he accessed how much blood Michelangelo had lost and determined if he would need a blood transfusion. He didn't seem to be dealing with any of the symptoms that appeared from lacking blood, so he should be fine, but Donnie still checked Mikey's vital signs before actually concluding Mikey was indeed okay.

As the third oldest turned to clean up the small mess, Mikey seized the opportunity to try to slip off the cot and slink away; but sometimes being a ninja has its advantages. Because after fifteen long years of training and being fully away of his surrounding, Don was able to detect the movements of his little brother with his acute sense of hearing.

"Nope. You're not getting away that easy." Donnie said as he turned to find his brother mid-step with a look of guilt prominent in his features. "Get back on the cot. And if you start crying on me again, I'm going to do further investigation on how much sleep you're getting and force you to eat healthier. And then I might have a quick word with Leo about keeping you from patrol for a few days until I'm positive everything's okay."

Mikey full-on pouted at that before slumping back to the cot and plumping down on it with crossed arms and a deep frown.

"Thank you. And now, how did you get that cut on your arm?" The third oldest inquired as he crossed his arms to mimic Mikey and took on a stance that meant business.

Mikey looked up at Donnie as though examining him for signs of an incoming storm before shifting uneasily and unraveling his arms to twiddle his fingers.

"Swear you won't get mad?"

Don watched the youngest with a small frown then nodded which seemed to be all the encouragement Michelagenlo needed as he sighed heavily;

"It was, um, Casey…"

"What?!"

"You swore you won't get mad!"

Technically, Donnie didn't promise anything, but he should probably let Mikey talk before storming to the Jones' residents and making a scene.

"I'm not mad. Just, keep talking."

Mikey studied him for a second before continuing, "we were skateboarding on the rooftops, having fun, laughing our faces off when I found a sword on the ground. It looked like it belonged to the Foot, so we did the most sensible thing we could do with it!"

"Which was..?" Donnie asked dully, having an idea where this was going.

"Duuude, I was getting to thaaat! You're ruining my story!"

"Sorry. Keep going."

"We started playing with it, having fun, you know? We sliced up a whole bunch of stuff; clothes wires, birds, cans, pizzas, and pretty much everything we could find!"

"Including your arm?" Came the matter-of-fact response from the third oldest as he put two and two together.

"Er, well, that was an accident… Casey felt awful, or, as awful as Casey can feel while cracking jokes and stuff…"

"So it was Casey's fault?"

"Accident! And well, I mean, he wanted to make sure I was gonna be okay, so he walked home with me, and then when we got back to the Lair, I promised him I was going to be just fine once I got it cleaned up, because, like seriously, it looked a lot worst than it felt! And then he felt okay with leaving, and yeah, end of story!"

"I'm gonna kill him…"

"No! Don't! It was my fault for getting in the way of his cool swinging moves! It's all on me, dude! So if you're gonna punish anyone, punish me!"

"That, I will do." Donnie watched Mikey's shoulders slump as his shell curved and his face fall into a look of disappointment; "and it's because, Mikey, you didn't tell me or anyone about your injury when you first came home. You made a mess of my tools which you know —everyone knows— that's a _huge_ problem. Then you still didn't come and get me, waiting a whole hour to let yourself bleed, and then lied to me, and to add to all that, gave me a lot of trouble. So yeah, you're in trouble."

"You sound like Leo…"

"Good. One of us needs to." Donnie huffed then thought for a second when something didn't piece together. "Why did you make a mess of my tools?"

"I didn't… Ohhh… Uh, about that… Heh, funny story! True story! You're going to laugh really hard!"

"Mikey."

"Um, Casey told me he needed to borrow some pliers for a project he's working on, and I was like, 'oh D has some, just go borrow his! They're in this red tool chest thing!' And then I let him in through the garage…"

"Now I really _am_ going to kill him… And you for letting him touch my stuff."

"Mercy? Because you love me so much?" Mikey said as he gave a small, infamous, Michelangelo smile, and Donnie rolled his eyes.

"I will for now. You have a whole six hours to recuperate before I take you out."

"Haha! Deal, bro!" Mikey bounced forward, hugging the purple-masked ninja and burying his face in his plastron. Donnie gave a tiny smile as he wrapped his arms around Mikey's carapace and held him for a second before leaning back and giving the youngest a stern look, "another thing before I see you off. DON'T _ever_ hide your injuries from me again, or you _will_ be sorry."

Mikey's smile dropped as his eyes widened into two giant blue spheres and he quickly nodded. "Sure, thing, D!"

"Good. Now go get some rest before I decide to lecture you some more."

Mikey grinned hugely before nodding once, giving his brother another huge hug, and scampering out of the lab. Donnie could only shake his head as a smile crept onto his face. Donatello had such a soft spot for his only baby brother, but one thing was for certain, there was no way he was going to let Michelangelo fly under the radar again, that was for sure. Donnie was going to make sure he kept his family in one piece because, well, the simple explanation was that he loved them and they all meant the world to him. And he was going to do whatever it took to keep them all safe.


End file.
